Therapuetic Listening

Does anyone have any experience with it? Think it helped? How did you get your difficult child to do it?

Occupational Therapist (OT) recommended Trex do this. She absolultely hates it so it is tough to get her to do the 30 min 2X day. Also, I can't say that we think it helps... she almost seems more easily frustrated but hard to tell as it is also summer and she tends to get bored.

Here is some info on it. There is lots of info if you goggle it. Got to admit I don't fully understand but certainly respect the opinions and recommendations of her Occupational Therapist (OT). She did it for a couple weeks a few months ago and we had problems so stopped in case this was what caused it. We have started back over summer. So far have been at it for 3-4 weeks.

Listening is a function of the entire brain and goes well beyond stimulating the auditory system. We listen with our whole body. In order to fully address listening difficulties one must also attend to the listening functions of both the hearing ear and the body ear.

One such approach that addresses the multiple facets of listening is Therapeutic Listening
[Listening With the Whole Body]. The main idea is to emphasize integration of the auditory and vestibular systems together. Since there is such a close connection with visual functioning, visual processing also will likely improve. Particularly spatial awareness, and the concept of time and space. [Eichelberger, 2002]When a Therapeutic Listening program is being implemented, as with all interventions based on the principles of Sensory Integration, a therapist relies on the client's cues to determine appropriate strategies [Kimball, 1993]. A child may be very active while listening, working on suspended equipment, and three-dimensional surfaces, which further challenge postural organization, motor planning, and higher-level sensory integration skills. The use of sound and music is so intimately connected to movement that children on listening programs are often compelled to move and explore the environment in new ways
[Listening With the Whole Body]It appears that sound stimulation alone facilitates the process of listening and social engagement [Porges, 1997]. However, to maintain and expand on those changes it is critical to engage the child in functionally and developmentally relevant activities that allows the changes to become a part of daily life skills
[Listening With the Whole Body].The equipment required for listening therapy are headphones that meet specific requirements, a CD player with special features, and CD's that are electronically altered, based on the ideas and the technology created by Alfred Tomatis, Guy Beard, and Ingo Steinbach. Depending on the child's treatment goals, the therapist will determine which music, modulation, and activities best suit the child. When used in conjunction with Sensory Integration Therapy, improvement is usually seen in:​

alertness, attention, and focus ​

receptive and expressive language, including articulation ​

balance and motor planning ​

affect and emotional responsivity ​

self-motivation ​

awareness of the environment ​

postural security ​

spatial awareness ​

initiation of play behavior ​

initiation of verbal interaction ​

modulation of sleeping, eating, toileting, alertness, emotional ​

stability [Eichelberger] ​

What does all this mean, you might ask? Sensory Integration Therapy is enhanced, it works better. The treatment is addressing more issues, and stimulating more senses. Results are usually seen earlier than without the Listening Program.​

Thanks. My very irreverent and probably not helpful reply is that it sounds rather like bunkum... certainly sounds like it is being "talked up". But the proof of the pudding is in the eating so... if the Occupational Therapist (OT) knows children who have actually been helped by it?

if it is indeed "the listening program" then we did it. but we only did it during Occupational Therapist (OT) sessions, and usually while doing other things like swinging, typing or craft projects.

mine didnt mind it, except for some of the louder, more aggressive musical parts-but that was more of a personal taste thing and she still did it. that being said, i highly doubt she would have done it twice a day for any length of time at home.

i cant tell you it helped but i can tell you that its expensive, and i wouldnt have bought it for home without WAY better scientific evidence that it works, in my opinion, its one thing to use some of these unproven methods during a therapy session, but i get VERY annoyed with therapists that are forever expecting you to buy overpriced doodads based on "we think it works" (its a huge personal pet peeve of me!).